Lucia Lip is described as an “electronic pop extravaganza.” She makes a unique style of lyrical solo electronic music. I have seen her on all kinds of different line-ups in Berlin; from punky shows to galleries to speedcore parties. She creates intimacy with her audience by merging the world of the performer and the audience together and breaks genre boundaries in places you’d least expect. We spoke a bit about what are the motivations she expresses through her performance persona.
I’m originally from the suburbs of Paris/France where I lived until I was 6, watching lots of Japanese Manga animations on TV and eating chocolate chips until we moved to Germany. I learned how to play the viola, a bit of electric guitar and singing. Later on I studied American history and Philosophy for a little while in Cologne and now I currently live in Berlin. I’m a self taught producer, musician-artist and actress. I have just released my first record, which was a hard nut to crack, but “Your Motor” and I made it through in the end.
The main objective of my musical project is simply feeling the need to express myself through my music, performance and visual art. I am very passionate about plunging into feelings and thoughts, making them bigger than they are, creating scenarios and turning them into music. The process of doing this is some sort of escape; creating my own world and personal scenarios where I am enabled to express my feelings or thoughts that I hold back in day-to-day life. It also enables me to live out the constructs of emotions on a bigger scale consequently giving me a sense of meaning to life.
Being on stage is sharing this meaning: to reach people, touching their hidden spot- that place beneath the surface. People inspire me in every way. Even though I can feel quite misanthropic at times, I love performing on stage, witnessing the moments when people are moved or just enjoying themselves or coming to talk to me after the show.
I don’t compare myself to other musicians; it’s me and not the others. I don’t know about all the others, but I do know that many musicians try to fit into specific music genres by adapting their look, behavior and image to it. I don’t. For me this is too restrictive and lacks in self-definition. You must let go of a certain fear if you want to do it your way, that’s for sure.
My favourite crowd to perform to is a dancing crowd. People enjoying themselves, it doesn’t matter what kind of people. What I can’t stand, obviously, are sexists, homophobes and racists. They’re annoying no matter where they are. I love all kinds of open-mindedness, for example, when your music is enjoyed by unexpected people who you didn’t think would be able to relate to poppy harmonies. I realize I can bind people who are into different kinds of music and not consider the audience to be dependent on a specific music style.
I like breaking the so-called “fourth wall”, which in theatre is where the audience is seen as another wall or border that the performer doesn’t cross and where there’s no direct communication or acknowledgement of the audience. I like to communicate with people when I’m performing – to make them part of what is happening and get them out of the passive observer’s view by integrating them. Even if I’m not on higher ground and I’m on the floor making contact amongst people, I still don’t get private. The floor is still a stage as well just not in the traditional sense.
Interacting with the audience often creates very special moments. People might get scared or turn shy when I get close to them. It’s quite funny, because I’m still me and I’m quite harmless, but as soon you’re performing you acquire a different role and people perceive you differently.
I haven’t got a song which best sums me up. The personality of a human being has a wide range of different characters; they can be very contradictory, which I find in my songs as well. There’s this strong and self-secure person that you hear in my somewhat cross-grained track “Why,” where the character makes fun of what others tell him or her to do. It’s the only track that is ironic though. It also goes so much against the stream because it doesn’t attempt to please you in any way but rather alarm you. A tendency of resisting fitting into any patterns and not caring if I’m integrated in any group is also expressed in “Why”. It’s a track that you can’t really categorise.
I like observing people and things around me, I don’t always want to, but I can’t shut my senses though I wish I sometimes could. That’s where a lot of the criticism that you can also hear in “We’re all beaten” or “What’s on your screen” comes from. I have that in me, sure. Then there’s this obvious vulnerability and romance in my songs. “With the sun in my hand” shows my romantic side, which I especially feel when I’m all by myself doing music in my dark basement at home. There I can develop quite romantic feelings…
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